2. ACCENT AND DIALECT
Accent Dialects
Non-standard Non-standard
pronunciation of a word Pronunciation
21 accents Grammar
Vocabulary
Black American dialect
3. WHAT IS SOCIAL CLASS?
Grouping people together
Giving them status in society according to
the groups they belong to
4. WHAT IS SOCIAL CLASS?
Accent or dialect?
Where you live?
Your occupation?
Your income?
How much money your family has?
5. WHAT DETERMINSES SOCIAL CLASS?
Everyone gets
four cards
Education
Income
Occupation
Wealth
6. WHAT DETERMINES SOCIAL CLASS?
Some people get
face cards and
land in the upper
middle class
Others may only
get low cards and
be in the lowest
class
7. CLASSES IN THE U.S.
Two upper classes
Upper upper: Old money (George Bush)
Lower upper: New money (Bill Gates)
Two middle classes
Upper middle: professional
Lower middle: White collar and entrepreneurs
Two lower class
Upper lower: Blue collar (factory workers)
Lower lower: Unemployed and homeless
8. THE AMERICAN DREAM
Do Americans believe that they can move
from one class to another?
40% of Americans believe that the possibility to
move up has increased.
35% believe that there has been no change.
23% believe that the possibility to move up has
decreased.
9. THE AMERICAN DREAM - REALITY
One study found that fewer families moved
up the income ladder during the 1980s than
during the 1970s
And even fewer moved up in the 1990s
Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the
ability to move up declined from the 1980s to
the 1990s.
10. IDENTIFYING SOCIAL CLASS
How you look
How you dress
What you eat
What you like to do
Where you live
What your house looks like
How you talk
11. HOW DOES SOCIAL CLASS AFFECT LANGUAGE?
William Labov’s Department Store Study in New
York City
Saks 5th Avenue – Upper class
At 50th St. and 5th Ave., near the center of the high
fashion shopping district
Macy’s – Middle class
On Herald Square & at 34th St. and 6th Ave. near
garment district
S. Klein – Lower class
On Union Square at 14th and Broadway, not far from
the Lower East Side
12. DEPARTMENT STORE STUDY
Location
Number of advertisements in New York
newspapers
Prices of women’s coats
Saks: $90
Macy’s: $80
Klein’s: $23
Size and layout of store
13. DEPARTMENT STORE STUDY
Interviewer: Excuse me, where are the
women’s shoes?
Salesperson: Fourth floor.
Interviewer: Excuse me?
Salesperson: Fourth floor.
14. DEPARTMENT STORE STUDY
Pronunciation of postvocalic /r/ is variable
Labov’s hypothesis:
Prestigious stores will have most /r/
Middle ranked store will have an intermediate
number
Lowest ranked store will have the least /r/
16. DIFFERENT SPEECH COMMUNITIES
The same linguistic variable is likely to have
different values in different speech
communities.
New York: /r/ is pronounced more by higher
social classes.
Reading, England: /r/ is pronounced less by
higher social classes.
17. CONCLUSIONS
Language variation, the use of standard and
non-standard dialects, often reflects
speakers social class.
Lower classes tend to speak non-standard
dialects.
Upper classes tend to speak standard
dialects.
Middle classes sometimes speak more
standard dialects because they hope to
move to a higher class.
18. REFERENCE:
Presentation adapted from:
http://www.english.wisc.edu/rfyoung/336/clas
s.pdf Accessed on April 25, 2011.